
🚨IMMEDIATE RELEASE🚨 - I Am Being Threatened For Protecting Children...
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The Shawn Ryan Show — 🚨IMMEDIATE RELEASE🚨 - I Am Being Threatened For Protecting Children.... Machine-transcribed; use the interactive transcript above to jump the player to any line.
This episode is brought to you by Redfin. You're listening to a podcast, which means you're probably multitasking. Maybe even scrolling home listings on Redfin, saving homes without expecting to get them. But Redfin isn't just built for endless browsing. It's built to help you find and own a home. With agents who close twice as many deals, when you find the one, you've got a real shot at getting it. Get started at Redfin.com. Own the dream. You said you were over him, but his hoodie is stilling your rotation. It's time. Grab your phone, snap a few pics, and sell it on D-Pop listed in minutes with no selling fees. And just like that, a guy 500 miles away just paid full price for your closure and ride on cue. Nope. But I've got tonight's dinner paid for. Start selling on D-Pop. Where taste recognizes taste. List now with no selling fees. I need to talk to you about something serious.
Last week, I received a demand letter from lawyers representing Canacook Ministries, a Christian summer camp in Missouri. They're threatening to sue me for defamation because of something I said on my podcast with Congressman Rokana. Here's what I said. I brought Elizabeth Phillips on my show, and she talked about how Canacook employees have been molesting thousands of kids for years in putting them under NDAs after settlements so they can never come out and talk about their sexual abuse and trauma. Canacook's lawyers are demanding I take down that portion of the interview, issue a public apology, and stop talking about this. They gave me 10 days. That deadline has passed. Here's my response. No. I don't negotiate with pedophiles or the people who defend them. I'm not taking anything down. I'm not apologizing, and I'm damn sure I'm not going to stop talking about child sexual
abuse. It's a Christian camp that continues to operate in the same grounds where horrific abuse took place. Let me be crystal clear about the facts. Things that Canacook's own lawyers admitted in their letter, one, Pete Newman, a senior Canacook employee and camp director sexually abused children at Canacook for multiple years in the early 2000s. He's now serving life sentences. Two, between 20 and 30 civil lawsuits were filed against Canacook. Three. People, confidential settlement agreements were executed with victims, NDAs that prevented these kids from speaking publicly about what happened to them. Canacook can't prove the number is less than thousands, and given their own admission of a cover-up, the true number is unknowable, but here's what really pisses me the fuck
off. Canacook is still operating a camp at the very location where countless children suffered horrific abuse. They're still running programs. They're still bringing kids to the exact same place, and now they want to silence me for talking about it. This isn't about protecting their reputation. This is about protecting children, and I will not be silenced. My attorney has sent Canacook's lawyers a response. We've made it clear. If they want to sue me, bring it on. We welcome discovery. We welcome depositions of Canacook leadership about what they knew, when they knew it, and what they did or didn't do to protect children. We welcome full disclosure of every abuse allegation, every settlement, every internal investigation, and every financial record showing whether Canacook actually suffered any harm from my statement, or whether this is just an attempt to intimidate people into silence.
Under Tennessee law, Canacook will have to prove online. They'll have to prove actual malice that I knew my statements were false, or that I had serious doubts about its truth. They can't do that, because I relied on Elizabeth Phillips, whose brother was a victim. I relied on public court records, relied on widespread media coverage of Pete Newman's prosecution, and most importantly, they admit the core of what I said is true. Canacook employees sexually abused children. Victims were silenced by confidentiality agreements. That's not defamation, that's the truth. I want to say something directly to survivors. I see you. I believe you, and I will not stop fighting for you. Sexual abuse at youth camps, especially Christian camps, that are supposed to be safe places as a matter of urgent public concern.
Parents have a right to know. Kids have a right to be protected, and survivors have a right to speak. Canacook's attempt to use legal threats to silence reporting on child sexual abuse in itself is newsworthy, and I'm going to keep reporting on it. To Canacook, you want to talk about callous and malicious disregard for the truth? Let's talk about operating a camp where a predator had access to thousands of children for years. Let's talk about confidentiality agreements that silenced traumatized kids. Let's talk about continuing to operate on a crime scene. We're not the victim here. The children you've failed to protect are the victims. I stand by every word I said, I will not retract, I will not apologize, and if you want to sue me, my lawyers are ready. To everyone watching, this is why I do this show.
This is why we tell real stories about real people, because the truth matters, because kids matter, and because some things are more important than money or reputation. If you want to support survivors of institutional child sexual abuse, check out no more victims. The organization Elizabeth Phillips founded. They're passing laws to protect kids and hold institutions like Canacook accountable. And if you're a survivor, please know. It's not your fault. You deserve justice, and there are people fighting for you. I'll keep you updated as this develops, but I'm not going to be backing down. Hey Jeremy, what's the name of that law firm? Hush black well. Hush black well. I wonder how many pedophiles they've defended. That'd be an interesting piece of information.
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